First of three teens accused of February Columbia shooting certified as adult
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
A Columbia teen accused of taking part in a deadly shooting in February will face charges as an adult.
Judge Tracy Gonzalez sent the case against 16-year-old Samarion Robins to adult court on Friday afternoon. Robins faces charges of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action for a shooting that killed 15-year-old Aubry Doxley on Feb. 19 on McKee Street.
Police took three teens into custody following the shooting that killed Doxley in her bedroom. Columbia police said the shooting took place outside the northeast Columbia home, which injured another person. The two other teens in custody will face certification hearings on July 15 and 22.
Juvenile authorities did not specify what role Robins may have played in the shooting. Clark Jones, an attorney for Robins, said in court that law enforcement did not have evidence Robins possessed the gun used or pulled the trigger.
A probable cause statement from Columbia police filed on Friday claims Robins and two others took part in a shootout in the 1800 block of McKee Street. A witness told police that she saw Robins and two others leave from a party together in a Nissan car, but only Robins and one other returned. The third teen allegedly ended up in a hospital with a gunshot wound, according to police.
The same witness said she overheard Robins and another discuss the shooting when they came back to the party. She said one teen admitted to being the driver, and that the driver slowed down to let Robins "lean out of the window and 'shoot back.'"
Police said surveillance video from a nearby home shows a dark-colored Nissan parked with its lights off just north of the home on McKee St. The statement said someone leans out of the passenger window of the car, followed by "what appear to be muzzle flashes" coming from the car. Police wrote that the video shows several people in the driveway, with one person shooting back at the car.
Deputy juvenile officer Alison Houston said Robins has been referred to the juvenile office four times in the last few years. The most recent involved a shooting on Jan. 21, 2021, in which several others were taken into custody. Robins eventually pleaded guilty in juvenile court to felony resisting arrest and misdemeanor tampering with evidence, and was made a ward of the court. Houston also said Robins had received 28 office referrals in the last school year while attending Hickman High School.
Jones asked Gonzalez to consider committing Robins to the Division of Youth Services instead of going to adult court. He said the previous referrals made to the juvenile court were not as grave as to require Robins be taken to the circuit court. Jones would not elaborate on what police claim Robins did the night of the shooting.
"I don't want to say anything one way or the other on that, but I think the evidence will turn out more favorably for us than what people are anticipating," Jones said.
Aubrey's mother Latoya Doxley told ABC 17 News after the hearing that she felt sorry for the teens involved, but hoped they faced a full prosecution for the shooting.
"I'm sorry that they're babies and that they did something dumb that they can't take back," Doxley said. "But they took a life, and they have to be held accountable. There's no way around that."
Robins is being held in jail on a million-dollar cash-only bond.
